LA to accelerate 28 transport projects for 2028 Olympics (CurbedLA)

Metro board approves Mayor’s plan to speed up transit projects in time for LA Olympics

• Building public transit through the notoriously-congested Sepulveda Pass was targeted for completion in 2033.

• A train from Union Station to Artesia was set to open in 2041.

• A Gold Line extension to Whittier or El Monte was scheduled to open in 2035.

Now, Metro will attempt to finish all three of those projects by 2028 under a plan that won approval from Metro’s Board of Directors on Thursday in an unanimous vote.

That plan is Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Twenty-eight by ’28” initiative, essentially a big list of goals that will guide Metro’s construction spending and the agency’s search for more funds over the next decade in anticipation of the 2028 summer Olympic games.

Not every one of the 28 projects on the list will necessarily be accelerated—some are were already scheduled to be completed before 2028—but many others will be.

Many of the 28 projects are funded by Measure R and Measure M, two voter-approved ballot measures that raised the sales tax countywide to pay for transportation projects. But Metro is looking for other revenue sources to accelerate construction beyond the financial resources allotted by those measures.

Along with potential state and federal grants, Metro is also aggressively pursuing potential public private partnerships that could be used to accelerate construction on several of Metro’s so-called “megaprojects.”